


Derek the Wandolier

by wattsur



Category: MySims, MySims Kingdom
Genre: Angst, Gen, Liberal use of headcanons, Mild Language, Minor Violence, derek is an asshole but hes learning ok, derek-centric btw, giving my boi the development he deserves, hopefully, liberal changes to the MySims Cinematic Universe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-30
Updated: 2020-04-30
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:13:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23931355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wattsur/pseuds/wattsur
Summary: Aunt Shirley sends Derek to Capital Island after a school mishap that went too far. He expected to just work as a knight in training or some other heavy labor work he ends up working as Elmira’s pig herder for the first two weeks. He signs up for the Wandolier test if only to leave the herding job behind but learns that by becoming the Wandolier he is tasked to leave the island and travel the kingdom to help as much people as he can.Lucky for him (or maybe not) he’s not alone! Along for the ride is the tenacious Lyndsay, who dreamed of the day leave the island and explore the kingdom, and Buddy, the clumsy but kind messenger boy who attached himself to Drek since the day he arrived and refuses to allow him to go on the adventure without him. While Derek knows that Buddy and Lyndsay goes together like oil and water, he can’t leave either behind because one receives messages from the king and the other has his mana bag. Will the trio make the kingdom a better place? Will Derek actually enjoy this voyage? Find out!
Relationships: Derek&Lyndsay&Buddy
Kudos: 3





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this on the mysims amino but ive always kinda wanted to post this on here so here i am.   
> basically this is a mysims kingdom au but the main character is derek instead of an oc. enjoy!

“You’ve done enough, Derek! You need some time away from here so pack your bags and come back downstairs. We’ll talk when you’re finished.”

\----

Derek always wakes up at sunrise.

He stares at the dusty ceiling, contemplating whether or not he can sneak a few minutes of sleep. Outside his room, he hears the floorboards creak as Elmira shuffles about in the living room. If he waits any longer, Elmira will most likely call for him. Guess sleeping isn’t an option anymore.

Derek pulls himself out of his lumpy bed, wincing at his sore back muscles. His room is small, small enough where he doesn’t have to leave his bed to reach his dresser. He pulled out a worn, black undershirt from the drawer and pulled it over his head. Derek adjusted the sleeves of his shirt and glanced at the scabs over his knuckles.  _ They’re healing up nicely _ , he thought absentmindedly. He looked at himself in the small mirror that hung on his bedroom wall. The dark bags under his eyes are still as present as the day he arrived on the island but at least the bruise on his face is disappearing. You wouldn’t be able to see it anymore unless you were up close. Once he was done examining himself, he checks to make sure he looks presentable before leaving his room.

Elmira glances up from her book to look at him. “Oh good. You’re finally up,” she says. Her gaze returns to her book. “When you’re finished, come to me and I’ll give you your chores for the day.”

Derek suppresses a sigh. “Yes ma’am.”

\----

The chores Derek does every morning are the same as it always is.

Chore one: Let the pigs out.

Chore two: Clean their pen

Chore three: Let them run around the farm

Chore four: Herd the pigs back before sundown

It frustrates him that Elmira tells him all the chore details over and over again as if he were a child.

What Derek expected when he was sent to Capital Island was to train to be a knight or doing chores around the castle. What he didn’t expect was working for some random pig farmer herding pigs all day. For nearly two weeks he’s been cleaning pig pens in the morning and herding the pigs at night. Every morning he spends a few hours cleaning and feeding Elmira’s two pigs, Porkz and Pigglez and every morning ends with him covered in mud and dust. While Derek will admit that he wasn’t the cleanest person in the world, all this mud on his clothes (and in his hair, under his fingernails, all over his skin) is driving him insane.

Once Derek is finished cleaning the pen and feeding the pigs, he’s allowed to do whatever he wants until sundown. Usually this means heading to the bath house and cleaning himself off. Fortunately, despite the medieval aesthetic, Roland had installed indoor plumbing for most of the houses on Capital Island. Unfortunately, Elmira only has a bathtub and no shower. Because of this, Derek has to have two baths to properly be clean. He was in his second wash, scrubbing out any remaining dirt in his hair when he hears a familiar voice through the window.

“Morning, Elmira! Morning, pigs! Is Derek here?”

He can’t help but crack a small smile at hearing Buddy’s voice. Buddy was one of the first people Derek had met when he arrived on the island and had visited him to hang out every day since. Derek’s not sure how Buddy saw his bruised face, bloody knuckles, or look of pure hatred in everything and anything in his eyes on the first day of arriving to Capital Island and thought “pal material” instead of “disciplinary delinquent from the city with serious issues to avoid at all cost” but here they are. However while Buddy would call him his “pal,” Derek himself isn’t sure what to make of Buddy. He’s nice but he’s also incredibly ditzy and nothing like the people Derek usually hangs around. Regardless, Buddy is always available and makes Derek’s days go faster so he isn’t complaining.

Derek quickly finishes his bath and wears his usual outfit for the day. His hair is still damp when he leaves the house.

Buddy is petting Porkz when Derek arrives (Buddy says that he can’t tell the pigs apart but since Derek has been cleaning them for two weeks, he’s able to find the subtle differences between the two. Truthfully it makes Derek a little embarrassed that he’s proud that he can tell the pigs apart). In his hands were a stack of flyers that, miraculously, were still neatly intact. Given Buddy’s clumsiness Derek is impressed that he was able to hold onto it for so long. Buddy lights up when he sees Derek and bounds to him.

“Morning pal!” he says cheerfully.

“Morning,” Derek replies. He points at the flyers in Buddy’s hands. “What’s that?”

“These are a surprise! I want to announce it when Lyndsay shows up.”

“Well, I’m here,” says a voice. “What’s the news?”

Derek looks over Buddy’s shoulder to see Lyndsay coming their way. Derek met Lyndsay on his third day on Capital Island. He was struggling with getting the pigs inside their pen and Pigglez had left his cage. Lyndsay offered to help him find the poor pig before Elmira came home, and they’ve been hanging out ever since. Similar to Buddy, Derek would refrain from calling Lyndsay his friend. Despite the fact that he hangs out with the both of them every day, it feels…weird to refer to them as his friends. At this point it feels more like a routine to be with them; just something to pass the time until he can go home and sleep to repeat the day again. It’s similar to when he would be at his hideout in the park after school playing video games until it was time to head home. Plus a part of him is telling him that, given any other option, they wouldn’t want to be friends with him.

Buddy turns to see Lyndsay make her way to them. “Morning!” he chirps. Buddy slides out one of the flyers from the pile and shows the both of them. “Today is going to be the Wandolier Challenge. King Roland said that we haven’t had a wandolier in decades and he thinks that it’s time we have another one!”

Derek looks at the flyer with a blank stare. “What’s a wandolier?” he asks.

“A wandolier is like an Essence Master,” explains Lyndsay. “They use the power of essences to build things but with a wand instead of a workshop.”

Derek nods slowly. “But what does this have to do with us?”

Buddy glances at the flyer and back at Derek. “Well, I know how much you don’t really like your job as a pig herder so I thought that maybe you’d be interested in becoming a wandolier,” he says. “It’s a little harder but I think that you might like it.”

Derek mulls over the explanation. He doesn’t know what to expect if he actually became the wandolier. Would he even be allowed to since he technically isn’t a permanent citizen of the Kingdom? He didn’t have time to ask because a haughty voice shouts across the road. “Ha! As if someone like Derek would be able to pass the Wandolier challenge!”

The trio looks up to see Butter, the spoiled princess of the kingdom, smiling smugly at them. She was sitting in her carriage where she does her morning rides around the kingdom. 

“Good morning Princess Butter!” shouts Buddy. “Are you taking the challenge too?”

“Of course I am. And I’m obviously going to win because Daddy is going to let me.”

Derek rolls his eyes. He doesn’t care about Butter’s opinion. She’s been acting as if he doesn’t exist since he’s been here. To her he’s just a simple peasant unworthy of her attention which is fine by him because she’s been nothing but a selfish, stuck-up brat for as long as he’s known her.

Her haughtiness wasn’t only irritating Derek it seems. Lyndsay scowls up at the princess. “There’s no way the king would let a spoiled brat like you become the wandolier!” she shouts. “The wandolier should be dedicated, helpful, and kind. Unlike  _ you! _ ”

“And you think Derek is any better?” the princess retorts.

Lyndsay opens her mouth as if she planned to make a remark but closes it. She looks as if she’s thinking over her description of a wandolier and Derek’s qualification as one.  _ That’s fair _ , Derek thought wryly.

“Well he herds pigs all day so I’d say that’s dedicated,” offers Buddy.

Butter scoffs. “Please. Anyone could herd a stupid pig around.” She turns away from them and gives her driver the signal to leave. “Someone like Derek is a waste of a wandolier anyway. Given  _ his _ track record.”

Okay. That struck a nerve. “You know what, Butter!” he yells. “I’m going to take the challenge and I’m going to be the wandolier whether you like it or not! And I’m going to be the best damn wandolier the Kingdom has ever seen!”

“Good luck with  _ that! _ ” she shouts smugly as carriage disappears over the hills.

“See you at the challenge!” Buddy shouts cheerfully.

Derek clenches his teeth and scowls at her pink carriage getting smaller and smaller in the distance. He was only mildly interested in this whole wandolier gig but not he plans to do it out of pure spite. “When’s the challenge?” he asks Buddy.

Buddy takes out a flyer and reads it. “It should start about…right now!”

“Then what are we waiting for?!” screams Lyndsay. “Let’s go!”

The three make a run for the castle. If Buddy trips and drops a few of the flyers along the way, they could pick them up after the challenge.

\----

King Roland sits on his thrown and checks his watch for the time. There’s one more minute before the challenge begins…and the competition is incredibly low.

Only two contestants have signed up for the challenge: Barney Cull, the local retired sailor, and Princess Butter. It’s…a little disappointing to say the least. He was hoping for more younger (or mature) contestants but oh well.

“Um,” he starts. “Is this everyone? No one else is coming?”

Butter scoffs. “No one important,” she says.

Roland strokes his beard thoughtfully. “Well then maybe we’ll have time for one cupcake before we start then.”

He pulls out a cupcake and was about to take a bite when the door slams open.

“HOLD ON A MINUTE!” shouts an out-of-breath Lyndsay. “We have…a late entry, your Majesty.”

Derek steps forward. His face was red from running all the way to the castle but his eyes were fierce and determined. “I’m taking the trial, Roland!” he states.

“Actually,” Roland says matter-of-factly, “You can’t.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hoped you liked the first chapter! this one has more headcanons in it and its also the tutorial part of the game so this chapter is a little longer

He can’t believe it.

Aunt Shirley sent Derek to work in Capital Island because of a fight he had in school. He barely had any time to even fully process the decision before he was shipped off to the islands. For two weeks he’s been cleaning pigs day in and day out because that’s what Roland had made him do instead of anything else on the island. For two weeks he’s felt that he’s been wasting his life on this island, learning nothing, _doing_ nothing. Suddenly he hears about the one thing that might actually make this trip worth anything and all of a sudden he _can't_ do it?!

“Why not?” he shouts. He knows he’s sounding like a child but he is at his limit at this point. “You dump me in a _PIG FARM_ to herd pigs for two whole weeks without so much as an update on what I’m gonna do next, and now you’re restricting me from the only interesting thing on this damn island?”

“Um, Derek,” Lyndsay hisses.

“You’re supposed to be the cool one,” Derek continues, ignoring Lyndsay’s protests. “And now all of a sudden you’re like the rest of the aunts and uncles.”

“Wh-wh-wh-WHAT?!” Buddy exclaims. “What do you mean ‘like the rest of the aunts and uncles?’”

“Roland is my great uncle,” Derek explains offhandedly. “I’m not done—“

“You’re related to King Roland?!” shouts Lyndsay, her eyes comically wide.

“Butter’s hair is pink,” Derek replies as if that explains everything. “You know what my aunts look like. Pink hair is hereditary in our family—“

“But your hair is blonde,” interrupts Barney.

“Not naturally,” Butter says with a mocking smirk.

“THIS ISN’T ABOUT MY HAIR RIGHT NOW!” Derek shouts, feeling his neck and face heating up. He glares back at King Roland. “Look, Roland, I’m not learning anything in Elmira’s pig farm. I need to do something else or I’ll go insane.”

Roland looks at the boy thoughtfully. “The reason why I don’t want you to take the challenge is because Shirley had asked me not to give you too much work while you were here,” says Roland. “You don’t even know the entire responsibility of being a wandolier. It’s more laborious than your current job, Derek. Do you really think you’re up to it?”

“I want to do this. I’ll do whatever it takes,” Derek says. It surprised him how much he meant that.

“Alright then,” says Roland. “IF you pass the wandolier test, you will be allowed to become the wandolier. However, you’ll have to fulfill the role as the new wandolier for as long as you’ll be here without complaint. Would that be something you’re willing to do, Derek?”

Derek nods. The look in his eyes told Roland that he was certain.

“Then let’s begin our Wandolier challenge,” Roland announces with a smile. He places his cupcake that was still in his hands on the arm of the throne and walks down the steps to look at the contestants.

“Today, one of you will leave this castle as our new wandolier. And our second place winner will leave with a nicely made toaster oven created by the one and only Dr. F as a consolation prize.” Roland smiles and gestures to a nonexistent figure next to him. “First allow me to introduce the Court Wizard and our test conductor, the great and wise Marlon.”

Silence fills the room as everyone waits for something to happen. Suddenly the air around them begins to move. The air becomes visible as it moves next to Roland, quickly forming an outline of a man. In a puff of smoke, the wizard, Marlon, appears in his bright blue robes. The old wizard’s eyes twinkle as he looks at crowd who stared in awe.

“Greetings and salutations, dear friends!” he bellows. “My name is Marlon and I will be your conductor.”

Butter looks at everyone with annoyance. “Why am I the only one here who didn’t get a dramatic entrance? That’s not fair!” she whines.

“I just came in like a normal person,” Barney comments.

“Each of you will gain a training scepter. Once we are at the training grounds, the test truly begins,” Marlon explains, bringing everyone back to his attention. “Are we ready? Good! Now follow me!”

With a quick wave of his hands, the three contestants and Marlon disappear in another puff of smoke, leaving only Buddy, Lyndsay and King Roland behind.

“Who wants snacks?” asks the king, pulling out a tray of freshly iced cupcakes.

\----

Teleporting feels as if you’re riding a roller coaster, Derek finds out. Except instead of sitting in secure cart, you’re completely out in the open stuck in an upright position. The motion feels like wind but it’s not really wind. So maybe it’s more like falling sideways? The rush comes as quickly as it goes and suddenly Derek and the others find themselves on a small remote island. Derek nearly falls over from the whiplash and Butter’s face was beginning to turn green.

“Welcome to the wandolier training grounds, the Isle of Magic,” announces Marlon. “This is where our test begins!”

The training grounds was a small grassy with random objects thrown about. A lonely windmill sat on the corner spinning pathetically in the gentle breeze. There was also a pseudo-castle at the center of the grounds made of dilapidated blocks and wood with pipes and gears strewn about.

“It’s…quaint,” says Barney looking at the display before him.

“Your first task is to find mana,” Marlon explains. “Mana is the energy source for your wands.”

He snaps his fingers and three simple golden colored wands appear in from of them. “These are only training scepters. They don’t have the full capabilities of the real deal but they’ll do the job just fine for the test. The winner will be given the real scepter.”

Derek studies the scepter in his hands. It fits comfortable around his hand and seems to be from a lightweight metal. The length looks about as long as his elbow reaching his wrist. At the end of the scepter was a knob with a small crystal at the very tip, most likely where all of the magic comes from. He spins the wand in his hands. It has a nice weight to it. “So all we have to do is wave it around to capture Essence?” he asks.

“Not just Essence, my boy, but also mana,” says Marlon. “Mana is essentially the energy for your scepter. If there’s no mana, there’s no wandolier power. And you can’t just wave it around all willy-nilly! You move it in a circular movement. The motion can’t be too big or else you’re just swinging it around like a doofus. You also have to spin in a clockwise fashion or you won’t get anything.

“Now I’ve added chests full of mana for each of you to find. I made sure that three treasure chests full of mana will be sufficient for each person’s test. Whoever finds three chests and fills their scepter with mana first will be the winner of our first task.”

Derek blinks. “That’s it?” he asks. This is way simpler than what everyone was making it out to be.

“It’s not just skills and techniques, Derek,” explains the wizard. “It’s also about efficiency. Anyone can wave a scepter around but only a true wandolier is able to gather and create objects within a time limit. Now begin!”

The three contestants spread out to scope for chests. They can’t be too hard to find, Derek figured. Sure enough he was able to find a chest. He carefully opens it and glowing round orbs fly out.

“Better act fast! Mana goes away quickly once they’re exposed to light!” shouts Marlon from the front of the training grounds.

Quickly, Derek waves his scepter around (tiny, clockwise, circular motions) and the light from the orbs spring into the small crystal at the end of the scepter. The orbs disappear as the mana they carried absorbs into the scepter. There’s a weird interface on the side of the scepter that keeps track of the mana Derek absorbs. The number clicks to 15.

Well one down, two to go.

He looks around at the other challengers to see how far they’re going. Butter is sitting on a large mushroom on the training grounds, polishing her training scepter to see her reflection on it. Barney is eyeing a bush that obviously had a treasure chest filled with mana but for some reason hasn’t opening it. The old sailor notices Derek staring at him.

“Hey pig herder,” calls Barney with a laugh. “Or should I call you, ‘Your Highness’ instead?”

Derek grimaced. “Calling me by my name is fine.”

“…Travis, right?”

“Derek.”

“Derek. Right.” Barney takes a step back and gestures at the treasure chest in the bush in front of them. “Well, if you want to get first place, I’d say taking a look at this bush would help you get there.”

The blond gives him a confused look. “You didn’t take the challenge to win?” he asks.

Barney glances over his shoulder to make sure the Marlon wasn’t listening in. “To tell you the truth, I’m gunning for that toaster oven,” he whispers. He leans back and yawns. “I’m too old to be going around the kingdom, doing favors for people. If I wanted that I would have been the royal messenger.” Barney lets out a husky laugh and pats Derek roughly on the back, causing him to stumble forward. For a man who constantly talks about his age, he’s as strong as a man in his prime, Derek thought.

“I’d leave it for the young ones like you to make this place better. I’ll be off, pretending that I’m looking for something until this is over. Go on and win for me.” And with that Barney walks away elsewhere.

Derek watches him leave. What a strange guy. He shrugs and opens the mana chest that Barney left behind. One more chest left and the first task will be complete.

He finds one more chest with no problems and returns to Marlon.

Butter hasn’t moved since Marlon told them to start. Derek looks at her, perplexed. “I thought you wanted to be the wandolier,” he says to her. “Unless you’re also secretly trying to win the toaster oven.”

“I don’t need to do anything,” Butter says, crossing her arms. “I know I’ll win regardless of what you or Barney do.”

“You really think like that?” Derek asks incredulously.

“Well! Derek has won the first task in the Wandolier contest,” announces Marlon before Butter got to answer. “On to the next test!”

Marlon snaps his fingers. The chests vanish and an empty shelf appears in front of the training grounds. “Wandolier works also needs precision. So you’re next test is to place these plushies onto this shelf.”

Three large plush toys appear in from of the shelf in a box. The toys were piled atop one another haphazardly.

“As you can see,” Marlon explains. “These collectible Kingdom Pals aren’t exactly in a perfect sitting position for this shelf. You’re objective is to place one toy on top of the shelf. Whoever sets their toy in the correct position first wins this test.”

“Wait Marlon!” calls Butter. “You never taught us how to actually use the power of the scepter.”

Marlon laughs. “The power of the wandolier almost a natural instinct!” he says. “But if you need to know: raise the wand above you and the mana will do the rest.”

Derek carefully lifts his scepter. A beam comes out of the top and he urges the beam towards one of the plushies by motioning the scepter to the box. The beam surrounds on of the toys—a rabbit toy—and gently lifts it up. There’s no feeling whatsoever to the objects that Derek picks up. Even though the toy is relatively light, it feels like it should have a weight in the scepter or anything but it doesn’t. It makes Derek wonder if any of the objects the scepter can pick up has any weight to them or if the plushies were light enough that it doesn’t register.

“My, Derek,” Marlon exclaims. “You seem to be a natural at this wandolier role.”

Am I really? Derek thinks. It’s far easier than what Marlon is making it out to be. It’s almost like he’s playing a children’s video game that he’s too old for. In the corner of his eye, he sees Butter’s face turning red. She waves her wand in the air, trying to coax the beam out of her scepter. A little farther away, Barney had just started lifting a bear from the box. Barney’s toy was staggering up and down, and Derek wasn’t sure if it was because he was struggling or just waiting for Derek to place his first.

Steadily, Derek places his Pal sitting upright and neatly on the shelf. Barney follows after within a minute. Butter hasn’t been able to pick hers up.

“It’s not fair,” Butter whines. “I think my scepter’s broken.”

“I’ll take a look at yours then. We do need a fair chance for everyone after all.” Marlon takes Butter’s scepter and turns to the other two. “Derek has placed his first. Well done! We’ll move one to the next test while I take a look at Butter’s scepter.”

The shelf and toys disappear in another puff of smoke. In its place was a small fenced area with bushes strewn about within it.

“Our next test is to get rid of the bushes and place a house inside the fence,” explains Marlon. “The objects that you destroy will get converted into mana which you could then reuse. It’s an important cycle for the wandolier to get familiar with. Now we can get started with the test.”

Derek noticed that Marlon didn’t even mention the winner objective. A small bit of him felt a little proud that Marlon is aware that he’s the best out of the three. But the only reason he’s winning is because Barney is throwing the contest and Butter is…well…Butter, so he shouldn’t get too smug. He’s certain that if Barney actually wanted to be the wandolier, he would have. The use of the scepter felt way too easy for it to be because Derek is just good at it or better at working the magic than them. He was never the good at anything back in school so this is probably just a fluke that he’s good at this at all.

Ok Derek stop thinking, it’s not helping your concentration right now.

He shakes his head, trying to focus at the task at hand. He waves his scepter at the bushes and lifts one up. It causes a small tug from his scepter but regardless he was still able to pull the bush out of the dirt with an extra shove. It wasn’t until Derek was done pulling all of the bushes does he realize that he has no idea out to get rid of any of them.

Barney looks at the handiwork that Derek has done. “Wow, it’s pretty cleaned up,” says Barney. “I wish I had the scepter earlier for my own lawn. Hey when you win this, you should help clear all the shrubs at my place.”

Yeah, like that’s ever gonna happen, Derek thought.

It seems that Butter has her scepter back, either because she got a new one or because it wasn’t defective after all Derek didn’t know or care. She isn’t even looking at the test or the testing grounds. Derek rolls his eyes. Figures that she’d give up when it wasn’t going her way.

“To get rid of the bushes, you need to shake the scepter. Just shake once!” shouts Marlon from the other side of the training grounds.

Derek picks up a bush and gives his scepter a rough shake. The bush disintegrates and the remains absorbs into the tip of the scepter. The mana slider rises from 40 to 45. It’s so crazy how quickly it became mana for him to use. What other things would be taken away with this?

“People and animals won’t be affected by the scepter, Derek,” says Marlon as if he read his mind.

Derek feels his cheeks heat up. “I wasn’t thinking that!” he says defensively.

“I kind of was,” Barney admits sheepishly.

“You people are awful,” Butter mutters with a sniff.

Derek rolls his eyes and goes back to work. With all of the bushes gone and converted to mana, he only has to create the house. How do you do that? Unsure of what to do, he rotates the top of his scepter to see if that does anything. The top part of the scepter does move and has a feeling similar to turning a dial on a timer. With a wave of his hand, he tries again to see if it works. The beam of the scepter briefly overtakes him and suddenly he can see the blueprints of a house, a roof, and a window behind his eyes. Is this how a wandolier creates things? Derek wonders. He waves his scepter again and a base of a house conjures out of the beam. To his surprise there was only a slight weight from beam carrying the large house base. He would have expected it to be heavier but the beam made it feel as light as an apple.

“Well done Derek!” praises Marlon. “I didn’t even to give you instructions yet but you were able to do the next step all on your own.”

“That’s pretty amazing,” Barney follow up. “You really are a natural.”

All this praise is kind of embarrassing, thinks Derek. He’s never been praised for well…anything before. But did they actually have faith in him, or were their expectations so low that they were impressed by him doing anything on his own? He feels his neck heat up but he tries to ignore it and moves on to the next steps on the test.

He steps up the door and windows with no problem. Fortunately the objects easily click into place on the house so it doesn’t require much precision on Derek’s part. Within a few minutes he was finished. The house was quaint but it was also bare.

“It feels like there’s something missing,” Marlon says, inspecting the small house. “Aha! It should be painted too.”

He’s become aware that Derek is the only one trying to actually win this contest as Marlon gives him a knowing look. Oh no. There’s _expectation_ in his eyes now. Get it together Derek don’t fuck it up now.

Derek looks at his scepter and rotates the top again (if it worked the first time, it’s probably going to work again). He points it at the house and is thrown one swatch to pick from within his vision. He feels his mind pick it up and suddenly the outside of the building morphs to match the swatch he’s chosen. Derek does it again for the roof with its hay roofing slowing transforming into light stone shingles. From behind him he hears a low whistle.

“I don’t know what you saw but that looked pretty amazing from here,” say Barney.

“You’ve done great so far, but we still have one more challenge before we’re done,” says Marlon.

He snaps his fingers and the entire house disappears. Within a second a windmill hooked with some gears appear in front of the three. Butter hasn’t moved from her spot but she looks at the contraption with curiosity.

“Our last test is a puzzle test,” Marlon explains. “What you need to do is connect the gears together. Some objects require the use of gears for energy. A good wandolier is able to create efficient structures with gears. You know what to do next.”

Puzzles will have to be a main part of being a wandolier? Derek had never really been fond of puzzles when he was younger. But the puzzle looks simple enough.

“Gee Derek you better not think TOO hard or else you’ll hurt yourself,” Butter murmurs bitterly.

“That’s big talk coming from the person who hasn’t lifted a finger since the competition started,” he shoots back. “Why don’t you just sit in that corner and look at the crabs while I actually get things done.”

Butter scowls but doesn’t reply so to Derek that means he won. He quickly connects the gears and puzzle is solved. Marlon looks pleased.

“Good job, Derek. With the final test finished, we will return back to the castle and I will calculate our results of the contest,” announces Marlon.

Instant relief washes over Derek. It’s been feeling as if the entire test lasted for over a week and he really wanted it to end. Marlon confiscates their scepters and the four are transported back to the castle.

\----

The king, Lyndsay, and Buddy were happily eating cupcakes when Marlon reappears in the center of the throne room. Not long after his appearance, the other three appear as well, coughing up smoke from the leftover magic.

“Here are the results of the test,” Marlon tells the king, handing him a clipboard. When did he have that? Derek wonders.

King Roland takes the clipboard and evaluates it. He looks at each section thoughtfully and he looks almost impressed. Derek isn’t sure if he should be offended or not.

“How well did you think you did, pal?” asks Buddy, holding a half-eaten cupcake.

It was way too easy and the other contestants were literally throwing the match. If feels as if anyone could be the wandolier if they were given a scepter and the praise you were given was secretly to make fun of you and condescending. There’s no way Derek would have actually won if they tried. He shouldn’t have won at all.

“I think I did pretty well,” Derek says instead.

Lyndsay laughs and offers Derek the cupcake she was holding. “I’m sure you did great. I bet you’re totally gonna win,” she says, reassuringly.

Derek doesn’t reply, taking a bite of the cupcake instead.

“I’ve read the results and come to my conclusion!” announces King Roland. “The winner and new wandolier will be…Derek!”

The crowd applauses as Marlon hands him he official scepter. It looks no different from the training one other than that the jewel on the top would change colors occasionally. Derek takes the scepter and stares at it unsure of what to do next.

“What this scepter in your hands, you have become the kingdom’s first wandolier in nearly three decades,” Marlon explains, reverence in his eyes. “What you do with it is up to you, but you must be dedicated and willing to make this kingdom a better place.”

Derek looks at Marlon then back to his new scepter. The gravity of the wandolier’s responsibilities finally hits him and his shoulders sink. He doesn’t know if he’s really up to it.

“In second place is Barney who wins a nice toaster oven!”

“YES!” shouts Barney. He runs up to King Roland and takes the box with his toaster oven. “You cannot BELIEVE how long I had to wait for this.”

He leaves the castle with an extra jump in his step as everyone watches him leave. Alright…

“Um..Well..This means that Butter comes in last place,” Roland says slowly. “I’m sorry sweetie. If there’s anything—“

“I want a unicorn,” she interrupts, sharply.

“Unicorns are rare to come by…but I do know some elves who might have the a way to make it work,” Roland replies carefully.

“I don’t care. I want one soon.” With that she stomps away to her room. Roland looks in her direction a little sadly but turns back to the task at hand.

“Derek, can I speak to you alone?” he asks.

“That’s perfect because I wanted to talk to Buddy and Lyndsay,” says Marlon. He nudges Derek in the king’s direction.

“What would you need to talk to us for?” Lyndsay asks curiously.

“What I want to talk about is PRIVATE to only you two,” Marlon says, looking at pointedly at Derek. Derek raises his hands in defeat and leaves.

King Roland stands in front of Derek expectedly as he makes his way to him. “What’s up, uncle?” he says as casually as he can. In his hands, he twirls the scepter and only stops when Roland gives him a look.

“You have officially become the kingdom’s wandolier,” Roland states. “Now I want you and you’re friends will travel the kingdom—“

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” interrupts Derek. “Friends?”

“Well I assumed that you would go on this journey with Buddy and Lyndsay,” explains Roland, a little taken aback. “Is there something wrong with that?”

“N-no, it-it’s nothing!” Derek quickly stammers. “I just thought that I…um…” I thought I could to do this whole journey alone.

It’s not that he disliked Buddy or Lyndsay but he knows how the two are when they’re together for too long. Their relationship reminds Derek of Aunt Shirley and Aunt Nicole’ rivalry. They would get along for short intervals and could even make great stuff when they’re together but most of the time they’d just be yelling at each other. Usually Derek’s dad would have to come between them before it got ugly and it’s really no different from how Derek would sometimes have to wedge himself between Buddy and Lyndsay before it got too tense.

Plus Derek isn’t the best companion. He knows that within two days they’ll realize that he sucks and they’d want to head back to Capital Island. He’d rather the two not come to begin with than have to backtrack to the Capital when they inevitably get sick of him.

Roland was still looking at him intently, wanting him to finish his thought. “Are you complaining, Derek?” he asks, tilting his head.

“No sir,” Derek replies, feeling like a child for the first time in years.

“Well since you aren’t, I can finish. I would like you and your friends to travel to the other islands. Now I know that you technically aren’t supposed to leave the island so I wanted to know if you wanted me to give a message to your aunt before you leave.”

“Well of course,” Derek says immediately. He hasn’t talked to her since he got here. As frustrated as he is with her decision to bring him here…he misses her a lot. He’s not going to lie to himself. “Could I talk to her now?”

Roland looks away sadly. “You can’t talk to her right now since I need to set up the phone first which could take a few hours,” he explains. “For now you would need to wait a bit. You can go back out and I’ll let you know by tonight.”

Derek frowns. Why bother offering when you didn’t have it at hand? He thinks bitterly.

He returns back to Lyndsay, Buddy, and Marlon who had just finished speaking to him. Buddy was giving a look something that Derek couldn’t figure out. Lyndsay speaks before Buddy says anything.

“We heard that we’re going on a journey together!” Lyndsay says excitedly. “What are we waiting for? C’mon let’s go!”

Without them she runs out the door, leaving both Buddy and Derek behind.

“I guess Lyndsay gets really excited when she hears the word adventure,” Buddy says. He pats Derek on the back before heading closer to the door. “We should head out too. I’m pretty excited too, pal!”

Buddy follows Lyndsay out the door, leaving Derek alone with Marlon. He looks at the wizard for some clarification but was only given a smile.

“You better follow them out. They’ll know what to do next,” Marlon says with a smile. “Hop to it!”

And with that, Derek is left to follow in the two, completely unsure of what to do next. 


	3. Chapter 3

Buddy and Lyndsay are still outside the gates when Derek comes out.

“So, where do we start first?” Lyndsay asks excitedly. “I heard of this unexplored island we can look at.”

“We’re not going anywhere until I make my phone call to my aunt,” explains Derek, interrupting her excited rambling. “Technically I’m supposed to be on this island indefinitely but I want to tell her before I leave just in case. Also I need to pack.”

“Oh right,” mutters Lyndsay. “You don’t have too many things on you right?”

“Just a suitcase that my aunt Nicole gave me,” he explains. She visited him in the city before he left to give it to him “just in case.” Knowing her, it’s probably filled with so much clothes and accessories he could have unique outfits for the next year and then some. Needless to say, he hasn’t bothered to unpack any of it, let alone see what was inside. He’d been provided clothes when he got here anyway so he doesn’t have to go through the trouble of unpacking or repacking.

“That reminds me. I should really make sure that someone watches Guillermo when we head out,” says Buddy, looking worriedly back at the castle where the messenger pigeons were kept.

“You don’t need to worry, Buddy. The castle has a royal pigeon feeder so your bird will be fine,” Lyndsay says with a huff.

“But-But his SNACKS!” insists Buddy. “He needs his snacks and his baths. And what about his 5 o’clock Mozart music appreciation session? He needs all of those things to stay healthy!”

“You don’t need to come if you’re that worried about Guillermo,” says Derek, not really in the mood to hear Buddy’s further fussing.

Buddy gives him the most offended look Derek has ever seen. “I’m not leaving you to do this journey alone, pal! What friend would I be if I didn’t come?”

“He’s not going alone Buddy. I’ll be joining him,” Lyndsay interjects.

“But you can be kind of mean sometimes,” Buddy mutters quietly.

“I’m not mean!” she shouts back, defensively. Lyndsay looks at Derek for support. “I’m not mean, right?”

“Um…”

“Hey, royal wandolier!” shouts a voice, thankfully saving Derek from answering. “I could use some help about right now.”

The three looked over to the bridge…Or at least where the bridge should be. Barney is standing near the edge of the ravine where the bridge is nowhere to be seen.

“What in the world happened?” mutters Lyndsay who looks over the ravine to scan for any reason why the bridge had disappeared.

“Beats me,” Barney says. He’s still holding his toaster oven box. “It was here this morning. I wouldn’t have gotten here if it wasn’t.”

“I think I see the bridge down there,” Lyndsay announces, pointing at what looked like a large wooden object buried under the mud.

“Oh boy, pal,” Buddy says to Derek. “From the looks of it, you can use your new wandolier powers to pick it up and bring it back in no time.”

The other boy grimaces and looks down at the bridge. The ravine isn’t actually that deep but it was deep enough where Derek can’t reach it with the scepter while at the top which meant he had to climb down. A person could climb out of it if need be, but there was a river down below which made the sides muddy and could potentially cause hazards especially around rainy days. Lyndsay had once said that it hadn’t rained for a while so it can be assumed that the dirt is nicely firm if a little damp. There shouldn’t be much of a problem save for getting a bit dirty afterwards.

Lucky for Derek, dirt is a hazard that he goes through everyday so he slides down the ravine without much complaint from the mud. At the bottom sits the bridge in two pieces split through the middle, making two squares that allowed the bridge to conveniently fit inside the ravine without breaking it. Derek reaches for his scepter that was strapped to his belt and waved it towards the bridge. Carrying the bridge up to the top was simple; trying to find a good spot to place it so it doesn’t fall back in the ravine was a little harder.

“A little to the left…Okay now move it a bit forward towards me,” Lyndsay calls from the top. “Keep going, keep going and…Good!”

“Oh thank god,” mutters Derek. He can’t see a damn thing from his position so there’s no telling where he’s placing the bridge. With the first piece placed, that would also mean that the second piece would be much easier to put down. He picks up the second piece of the bridge and places the second half together. He can practically feel it “snap” into place.

“How’s the bridge, Barney?” he shouts from below. Above him Barney takes a tentative step over the newly reformed bridge. He stomps on the bridge to test the strength and hummed approvingly when it still held.

“Looks all good,” Barney shouts. He crosses over the bridge with no worry.

Derek climbs out of the ravine, brushing dirt off of his tunic and pants when he reaches the top. It’s a good thing that he’s used to dirt because something in him tells him that it’s never going to go away. He wasn’t even over the bridge when he hears Barney curse again.

“You gotta be kidding me! The _stairs_ are gone too!?” Barney shouts.

“That’s some bad luck there, pal.”

“How are we going to fix this mess?” asks Lyndsay.

They all look at Derek. Obviously as the new wandolier, it’s his job to fix whatever problem that arises. Derek puts his hands up defensively. “Hey, I’m new at this,” he says. “I can’t just make stairs out of nothing.”

“You’re right about that, Derek!” says a disembodied voice.

A flash of light shines and Marlon appears behind Buddy, making him trip and fall in shock. “Please don’t do that! That freaked me out!” Buddy cries as he picks himself up.

“If the wandolier can’t make stairs, how are we going to get through this then?” asks Lyndsay.

Marlon chuckles. “A wandolier can’t make anything on their own without mana and essence,” he explains. He pulls out a small magic pouch. “This bag is vital for your journey. It holds a nearly infinite amount of essence and can convert essence into mana. I want you to hold on to it, Lyndsay.”

“Hold on,” Derek interrupts. “Shouldn’t I have it? I’m making the stuff.”

“You don’t need to do this alone, Derek. Having a team effort is much more productive and fun after all,” Marlon says, giving Lyndsay the bag. He turns his attention back to Lyndsay. “So the bag is empty and you’ll need to fill the bag up with essence yourself. The bag will work itself out so won’t need to worry about the mechanics.”

Lyndsay takes the bag and smiles brightly. “I’ll do the best I can Marlon!” she says, beaming.

Derek frowns. Teamwork or not, it would be easier for Derek to have the mana bag for himself instead of running to Lyndsay whenever he’s gathered enough materials.

“This is amazing!” Lyndsay shouts with a big smile on her face. “So to make the stairs we need wood first…”

“You’ll also need this,” says Marlon, brandishing a scroll form his hands and gives it to Lyndsay. “This scroll gives you the blueprints so the wandolier can conjure items. You only need to unlock the materials in the scroll once with the scepter and it will always remember how to build items needed for your next materialization. Just as long as you keep your essence and mana stocked.”

Then, just as quickly as he came, Marlon vanished. In another second he appears behind Buddy, causing the poor boy to fall flat on his face. “Sorry for scaring you earlier, Buddy,” the wizard says, as if he didn’t just scare him now. In another puff of smoke, he vanishes.

“Now that we have something to hold essence, we just need to find how to gather it all,” says Lyndsay, putting a finger on her chin in thought. “If we want wood, we need an axe.”

“We don’t know anyone who’s willing to give us an axe,” Derek says.

“Well, how about Elmira? She’s right over there with an axe,” Buddy offers, pointing at Elmira, who was near some trees, holding an axe. How convenient.

“Like I said,” Derek says. “We don’t know anyone who’s WILLING to give us an axe. She’s not going to give us anything just because.”

“Then why don’t we get King Roland to demand that she give her axe to us?” Lyndsay suggests. “She can’t say no to the king!”

“Why don’t we…just ask her really nicely?” Buddy says. “Elmira may be a little mean, but I know that if we strike a conversation with her and socialize, she’d be willing to give us her axe.”

“Alright, I guess we’ll try Buddy’s idea first,” Lyndsay says with a sigh.

Buddy, Lyndsay, and Barney look at Derek expectantly. “What?” he asks, feeling the dread creeping up his shoulders.

“You work for her. She’s more likely to listen to you,” Lyndsay states matter of factly.

“Shouldn’t Buddy be the one asking her? He’s the nicest and it was his idea,” Derek protests.

“Would you trust Buddy with an axe?”

Derek opens his mouth to say something but begrudgingly realizes that he had nothing to counter. Even if Buddy were to only carry the axe from Elmira to them, who knows what horrible outcome would occur.

“Don’t you live with her, pal? It should be easy to talk to her,” Buddy says.

“It’s not that easy,” the other boy replies. True, he’s lived with Elmira for about two weeks. But just because he herds her pigs, does chores around the house, and helps her cook doesn’t mean they’re close. Plus he isn’t the most charismatic person. There’s no way he’s easily going to get her to help with his words alone. But Derek can’t really weasel out of this it seems. After all, even though Derek doesn’t know Elmira very well, Lyndsay knows her even less. And while Buddy is nice, he’s too clumsy to be trusted with a dangerous tool for even five minutes. That only left…

“Barney, why don’t you talk to her,” Derek suggests.

“E-excuse me?” the sailor asks, taken aback.

“You know…you talk to her really nicely and ask for the axe,” mumbles Derek. His face falls when Barney shakes his head.

“I’m not seducing anyone for an axe, if that’s what you’re asking,” Barney states quickly, having the audacity to even look flustered.

Shoot. Now he doesn’t have a choice.

Slowly, Derek makes his way to Elmira who has now noticed him. “What do you want?” she asks.

“I, uh, I wanted to say that I became the new wandolier for the kingdom,” Derek starts.

“Good for you but what does this have to do with me?”

“It means that I have to go on a quest and I won’t be able to take care of the pigs anymore,” he says slowly. Elmira nods, still looking at him to elaborate. “But to do my quest I’m….goingtoneedtotakeyouraxe.”

“Enunciate better, Derek. You know I hate mumbling,” Elmira says with a frown.

“I need your axe,” he finally blurts out. “And I need to take it for good because it’s really important that I do this quest and you’re the only person I know with an axe—“

“Okay. Here,” Elmira says flatly, handing him the axe. Derek takes wearily.

“That’s it?”

“You’ve lived with me for two weeks. Plus you do the chores around the house and take care of the pigs just fine. You’ve shown to me that you are responsible despite what everyone has claimed before you’ve arrived here,” she says. She shrugs. “Plus it’s just an axe. I can always get another.”

“Uh, thank you Elmira,” Derek stammers out.

“Don’t worry about it,” she says, turning to leave.

Derek watches her go in disbelief of how simple the exchange was.

“See pal? You had nothing to worry about!” Buddy shouts.

“I’ll admit Buddy,” Lyndsay says. “Your idea was a lot better than expected.”

She turns to Derek, “Now let’s chop some trees for wood essence!”

Derek looks at the tree in front of him and holds the axe tightly in his hands. Here goes. He begins to whack a few trees with the axe, gathering the essence that falls from it. When he’s sure that he has enough, he goes back to Lyndsay.

“So we just put the essence in the bag and that’s it?” asks Derek, looking at the bag Lyndsay is holding in disbelief.

“It should,” Lyndsay says, carefully opening the bag in front of her so Derek can place the essence inside. 

He pours the essence inside and the bag begins to shake. A beam of light shoots out of the bag and Derek takes out his scepter. The scepter absorbs the light at the top and it begins to shake slightly. Within a second, the light disappears, fully absorbed into scepter.

Barney looks at the scepter curiously. “Pretty flashy,” he comments.

“Let’s try out the new stairs!” Lyndsay says cheerily.

Again Derek waves the wand and he can “see” the stairs in the scepter. He conjures out the top of the stairs and places them on the ridge, feeling them click into place much like the bridge from earlier. Once the stairs were made, Buddy walks up to test it.

“Wow, that wand is really reliable. The stairs feel so steady,” he says.

“Yeah, it sure is great having a wandolier for a friend,” Lyndsay chimes in, following Buddy up.

Derek and Barney follow the two and find the gate to the harbor is closed. Barney sighs in defeat. “Again?” he whines.

Lyndsay inspects the water wheel that typically keeps the gate open. “Looks like the gears that connect to the water wheel are missing.”

“We should head back to the castle and ask Marlon for a scroll that can make gears,” Derek says.

“Good luck with that!” shouts a voice from above. The trio looks up at the top ledge of gear space to see Butter emerge with a smug grin.

“I stole the magic scroll of gearmaking from Marlon’s library and hid it in a secret place where only I can find it!” she announces smugly.

“Crap, we’ve been Buttered,” Lyndsay mutters in disappointment. “How will we find the scroll now?”

“Why don’t we ask Butter nicely? It worked for Elmira,” Buddy suggests.

Lyndsay scoffs. “Butter doing something good just because you were nice to her? That will never work.”

“I’m with Lyndsay on this one,” Derek chimes in. He’s only ever seen Butter about once a year during the holidays but she was always stuck up and rude, even to the nice relatives. And she isn’t any different when he’s here either. They’re more likely to find the scroll themselves than getting the information from Butter.

“Trust me Derek! You two are family right? It should work out,” Buddy insists.

Yeah, right. Family. Butter rarely even acknowledges him as a person let alone a cousin.

“Fine,” Derek sighs. “We’ll try it your way Buddy.”

“Wow, I sure am glad that I didn’t become the wandolier. This is so tedious,” Barney says. “I’ll just wait here until then.”

Butter was still hanging around the gate. Derek walks up to her wearily. He looks back at Buddy and Lyndsay who are watching from a distance. They give him a reassuring thumbs-up despite the situation is anything but.

“Came here to beg?” Butter asks with crossed arms.

“I’m not here to beg, I’m here to ask you NICELY where you hid the scroll,” Derek replies with a scowl. “So where’d you hide it?”

Butter scrunches her nose up. “That’s what you call nice? Do you make friends with that mouth?”

Derek’s scowl deepens. “If you want that kind of politeness then go talk to Buddy or Lyndsay,” he scoffs.

“Like those two would ever want to talk to me,” she mutters bitterly. Derek quirks his eyebrows in confusion. Realizing she said that out loud, Butter tries to sputter an excuse but can only open and close her mouth.

“Are you jealous that they don’t hang out with you?” he asks, perplexed. It never occurred to him that she would want to be friends with Buddy or Lyndsay given the fact that she barely gives them a second glance for as long as he’s been here.

Butter’s face turns red in indignation. “Are you making fun of me?” she growls.

“Why would I—“

“I don’t want to be hearing any of that from _you_!” she shouts. “You are beneath me! _You_ are not supposed to have more friends than me! I don’t even know what either of those two even see in you! And not only that but you humiliated me in front of everyone by becoming the wandolier! You didn’t even know about it and you still beat me as if it was nothing!”

Derek could feel heat around his neck and cheeks. Is she only doing this because of the contest? “If you actually did something during the competition maybe you could have stood a chance,” he shouts back. “Stop being a sore loser.”

Butter splutters in anger. “It’s not fair! I spent so long trying to get the stupid thing to work and you were able to use it without breaking a sweat! I can’t, no, I _will not_ be worse than you! _You're_ the family failure! _You're_ not supposed to amount to anything! I’m supposed to be better than _you_! Don’t you understand that?!”

The words echo around them. The other three—Barney, Buddy, and Lyndsay—stare at them in shock. Butter pales and covers her mouth, realizing that she went too far. She starts, “Derek—“

Derek puts his hand up to stop her. “You know what? Screw it. I’ll find it myself,” he says quietly. Without another word, he turns away and heads back to the castle. Lyndsay gives Butter a dirty look before she and Buddy follow Derek down the stairs. Butter can only look at them as they leave her view.

____

“Are you okay?” Buddy asks Derek anxiously. The other boy doesn’t reply, choosing to stare forward and walk.

“I can’t believe Butter would say that,” Lyndsay growls. “I know she’s mean but that was just cruel.”

“Why can’t we all get along?” Buddy says dejectedly. “Maybe I should’ve talked to her instead.”

“It doesn’t matter anyway,” Derek mutters. “I have a hunch where Butter might’ve hid the scroll.”

He stops in front of the entrance of Butter’s mushroom garden. The garden was one of the few things that Butter actually cares about. She doesn’t take care of it herself obviously; she has a royal gardener who does that for her. Derek knows that Butter comes here every day to look at the fancy mushrooms and pick at the small flowers that were about.

“It’s gotta be in the mushroom garden,” Derek states. “It should be in a box or something and I doubt she would get her hands dirty and bury it.”

He enters the garden and kneels down to look around the mushrooms and other foliage. He’s careful not to damage any of the mushrooms. Even though he’s angry, he’s not going to stoop as low as destroying something Butter obviously cares about because of what she said.

_ You’re only angry because she’s right and you know it. You’re not going to amount to anything no matter what you do. _

“Hey,” says a voice from behind him, breaking him from his thoughts. Derek looks back and sees Butter standing at the gates of the garden. Her hands were clasps together and she was staring at the ground. “I want to talk about…that.”

Lyndsay and Buddy get up to stand between Derek and Butter. “I can talk to Butter instead if you don’t want to talk to her, pal,” Buddy offers him quietly.

“Or we can be with you while you two talk,” Lyndsay follows up.

Seeing them stand between him and Butter (almost protectively) gives Derek an odd feeling in his chest but he immediately pushes it down before he thinks too much of it. He stands up.

“It’s fine. I can do it alone,” he says surprised by how defensive he sounded. He quickly moves past them and heads to Butter.

They stare at each other. Or rather, Derek looks at her with apprehension as she stands there looking at anywhere but him. Every second feels more agitating and it feels like hours went by even though Derek knows that barely five minutes have even passed.

“If you’re just going to stare at the ground then I’m going.”

“Wait!” Butter says. She motions Derek to follow her. She leads him to the side of the garden at an area with a fence covered in vines. Butter crouches down and moves some of the vine leaves aside to reveal a small chest. She picks it up and holds it out for Derek to take.

“I’m sorry. For saying what I said earlier,” she says quietly, still refusing to look him in the eye. “It was really mean.”

Derek looks at the box then at her. “Who put you up to this?” he asks carefully, taking the box from her hands.

“Looking at you three leaving made me realize something,” Butter says quietly. “The reason why they don’t like me is because I’m a bad person. If I wasn’t so mean and awful then maybe others would like me.”

“You’re not a bad person,” Derek tells her immediately. “Sure you can be mean but it doesn’t make you a bad person.”

Butter sniffs and wipes a tear from her eyes. “But I am. I said those horrible things to you just because I was mad that I’m not a good wandolier. You’re not the failure. I am.”

“You just need some practice or something. If you talk to Marlon, I’m sure that he’d love to give you some wandolier lessons,” Derek suggests. “And you’re not far off from what the rest of the family thinks of me anyway. No one says it but I know they all think it. You’re just the only one who’s ever had the guts to said it to my face.”

Butter still frowns. “I still shouldn’t have said it,” she says. “That was a horrible thing for me to say.”

“Well, it’s done and over with now and that you can’t really change that,” Derek says. “But you wanting to change and gathering the courage to apologize shows that you’re as bad as you think you are.”

Hesitantly, he puts his hand on her shoulder reassuringly and tries to give her a smile, even though he’s pretty sure it came out as a grimace. Butter wipes her final tears and gives Derek a small grin. Without warning she moves forward and hugs him. Derek stands there for a second, stunned at the suddenness, before hugging her back. “Thank you,” she whispers.

After a few seconds, Butter immediately backs away and dusts her dress. “I’m going inside to change because I’m covered in dirt from your hug,” she stammers suddenly. “…And I’ll talk to Marlon too.”

Before Derek can reply, Butter leaves, running inside the castle. Buddy and Lyndsay see her pass by and they both look at Derek for an explanation. He doesn’t elaborate but he shows them the box with the scroll inside.

“It was her apology,” he says.

Buddy grins. “I knew she wasn’t all that bad!”

“That’s a pleasant surprise,” Lyndsay says, who can’t help but smile as well. She looks at the box Derek is holding. “Let’s look at the scroll and see what materials we need.”

Derek nods and opens the box. He pulls out the scroll inside and reads the texts. “To make gears, you need metal,” Derek reads. “Where do we get that?”

“That’s easy. We’ll show you,” Lyndsay says. She beckons him to follow her. They head back over the bridge and Lyndsay presents Derek a wall with a pickaxe. “You just hack at the wall and metal essence should come out.”

Ok. Easy enough. In short time Derek mines out a good amount of metal and presents it to Lyndsay. With the blueprints in the scepter he can now make the gears.

“That was really quick,” Buddy says. “Now we can open the gate!”

The gate had a wall where gears should connect to a waterwheel. It doesn’t seem like a good gateway mechanism in Derek’s opinion. It looks like the gears could easily come off and fall into the river below. Nevertheless Derek takes out the scepter and conjures up gears. He adds the gears onto the wall and the gate opens.

“Alright! With a wandolier on our side, we’re unstoppable!” Lyndsay shouts cheerfully.

Everyone walks through the gates which lead to the harbor. Derek had never had time to go the docks in Capital Island so this is his first time here. The land was massive with a small shoreline along with an equally small harbor where a modest sized boat was docked. The area nearby was littered with overgrown bushes.

“Do you live on that boat? That’s so cool!” Buddy asks.

Barney laughs. “Yeah I live there. It’s great when you’re alone but it’s a nightmare when you want people over since there’s no party room. Plus, now that I think about it, there’s nowhere for me to put this toaster oven since the kitchen in the boat is pretty small. How am I supposed to make pizza bagels and serve them on a boat?”

He holds out his toaster oven for emphasis. To be perfectly honest, Derek completely forgot Barney was holding that the entire time. “Derek, I’m having some friends over tonight and I promised them some pizza bagels. Can you help me out?” Barney asks. He pulls something out of his back pocket. “I’ve had these scrolls for a while but I didn’t have much use for them until now.”

He reveals a few scrolls which Lyndsay takes. She opens the scroll and inspects what’s inside. “With this scroll, Derek can build a whole house,” Lyndsay says. She looks at Derek and gives him a thumbs-up. “We’ll help you out Barney. No problem!”

Derek looks over her shoulder to see the essence needs. Wood and copper. “I think I already have all of the essences,” Derek says. “I still have some leftover wood and I found some copper when I was mining earlier.”

“That’s great! Now you can get to wanding and make me a house,” says Barney.

“We get to see you make a whole house. This is so exciting!” Buddy says.

Feeling awkwardly hyped, Derek raises the scepter into the air and conjures out the base of the house. He then summons a roof with a door and windows. When Derek finishes, Barney lets out a low whistle.

“Now that’s a house I can live in. I can’t wait to show it to all my friends,” he says. He looks around the perimeter of the yard. “Of course, if I’m going to entertain my friend I’m gonna need an interior as well.”

The wandolier almost sighs but stops himself. Derek can almost hear Shirley berate him. The poor man lives in a boat. Of course he needs a furnished house. Don’t be rude.

“I have some more scrolls for you. It can make furniture,” Barney offers. He hands them over to Lyndsay once again.

Derek and Buddy both look at the scroll as well. “Let’s see,” Lyndsay mumbles, skimming through the scroll. “Wait…Stone and amber?! Barney, where are we supposed to find this stuff?”

“From the ground,” Barney says matter of factly. “I have an old treasure finder that you guys can use. It’s in my boat.”

“Wow, that’s so lucky!” Lyndsay says in awe. “Think of all of the treasure we can find. Simoleons, gems—“

“And bacon,” Buddy interjects.

Derek and Lyndsay stare at him. “Bacon isn’t a treasure, Buddy,” Lyndsay says.

Plus no one likes ground bacon, thinks Derek.

“Anyhow, here’s the treasure finder and also a shovel,” Barney says, having apparently had left for the boat without any of them noticing. He hands what looks like a metal detector to Derek.

Derek has never used a metal detector before. He remembered that Justice had one but he never let Derek use it around the boardwalk. He’s seen enough movies to know how to use one of these though. He holds the detector over the ground and it begins to beep in a low tone.

“With the treasure finder, we’ll be able to have the materials for the blueprint in no time,” Lyndsay says, pumping a fist in the air.

For the next fifteen minutes Derek wanders around the harbor, collecting essence using the treasure finder. Once he was done he returns to Lyndsay.

“Now all there’s left is to furnish the house,” Derek says tiredly. This entire essence gathering process is taking a toll on him. His arms ache from all of the swinging, mining, and shoveling that he’s been doing all day. All he wants to do right now is sit down and rest.

They all enter the house which is unsurprisingly empty. It only had a hallway that leads to a living room and a washroom. On the left of the entrance was a small room that was most likely to be a bedroom.

“I don’t have a lot of opinions for how you design the inside of my house but I do want it to look…domestic-y. You know; just some nice sofas and tables. Just enough to look simple and lived in,” Barney instructs.

“I’m not the greatest home interior designer so don’t complain,” Derek warns. He had watched home designer TV shows with Shirley when she wasn’t working but that’s beside the point. Luckily for him the formatting of the house made it so anyone would have a basic idea of where to place a sofa or table or where to designate a kitchen.

Derek added a simple bed and dresser inside the small room. Then in the larger room, he made it a kitchen. Connecting to the kitchen was a small living room with a sofa and a coffee table. It was simple, quaint, and domestic. Just like how Barney requested it should be.

“This is perfect,” Barney says, placing his toaster oven on the counter of his kitchen and taking a step back to look at the layout. “She’s going to love it!”

“She?” asks Lyndsay, raising her brow in confusion.

“I-I mean “they!” My _friends_ are going to love it!” Barney corrects himself.

They didn’t have time to question his sentence as there was a loud sound coming from outside the house.

“What was that?” Buddy asks nervously.

“It sounded like Marlon’s teleportation magic,” Lyndsay says.

They all go outside and see Marlon along with King Roland outside Barney’s new house.

“Congratulations Derek,” King Roland says warmly. “You’ve passed our secret test!”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Derek says. “Why was I going through a test again? You made it clear that I was supposed to go on your quest whether I wanted to or not.”

“Are you telling me that you made it harder for me to go home just so you can test this kid who already won the contest and showed that he can do it?” Barney also interjects.

“Well you see, Marlon has informed me that Butter had been having some troubles with her wand and our other contestant had been intentionally throwing the match for another motive”—King Roland looks pointedly at Barney who sheepishly doesn’t meet eye contact and looks at the ground—“so it had come to my attention that Derek had a significant advantage compared to his contestants.”

“So I really did just win by process of elimination,” Derek grumbles out with frustration. Of course he wouldn’t have won on his own merit. He was just the family failure who could only make himself useful as a spare. Of course Roland and Marlon didn’t actually have faith in him—

“That’s not true Derek,” Marlon says. “You passed with flying colors in the contest regardless of the performance of the other contestants. In fact, you are one of the best wandoliers I’ve ever seen.”

King Roland steps forward. “We were aware that you didn’t believe yourself to be worthy of the title because the circumstances of your competition so Marlon and I decided to construct a small test in a real life setting to show you that you were, in fact, capable of being the next wandolier. And you have shown, again, that you have the skill and compassion to help others, so I know you and your friends will be wonderful successors that will make the Kingdom a better place.”

“That’s really nice and all, your Majesty, but how will you know our progress?” Lyndsay asks.

“As you help Sims around the kingdom, I’ll hear stories about your achievements. With each accomplishment, you’ll earn a little bit more of my favor, and I’ll reward you for your efforts through Guillermo,” the king explains.

“So we have a point system for helping people?” Derek says.

“I wouldn’t call it points, exactly…”

“Neat! So we earn points by helping people,” Buddy muses.

“I’m gonna call them ‘King Points,’” Lyndsay cheers.

“Uh sure,” Roland says, not entirely understanding why they’re naming it. “If you earn enough ‘King Points,’ I’ll be sure to send Guillermo along with a thank-you note and some nice rewards. Does that sound fair?”

They all look at Derek, who gives a noncommittal shrug. “Sounds good to me.”

Roland smiles warmly. “Then the quest has begun!” He turns to Barney. “Barney, please give these three access to the ship.”

“Of course,” says Barney. He fishes out a key from his pocket and hands it to Derek. “Make sure not to destroy the thing. You know how to drive the boat right? Because if you don’t, then you can ask me and I’ll show you.”

Derek shrugs. “I’ve driven a motorcycle before. It’s the same thing right?”

The sailor grimaces but gives Derek the key nonetheless. Marlon claps his hands together.

“Now—“

“Wait,” Derek interrupts. “We still need to pack. And I didn’t get my call.”

Marlon and Roland glance at each other, as if they forgot. “Oh right. We’ve nearly forgotten,” Marlon says sheepishly. “Go home and pack and come to the castle when you all are ready. You can make the call then Derek as we’ll have the phone ready.”

And with that Roland and Marlon disappear in a puff of smoke.

“This is the best day ever! We finally get to go on a real adventure! It’s finally happening!” Lyndsay exclaims.

The three new adventurers head back to the center of the Island. They stand in front of the castle gates.

“Let’s all meet back here at the gate in twenty minutes,” Lyndsay states. “Then we’ll go in the castle and tell Roland that we’re ready.”

“Sounds good to me,” says Derek, already taking a step back to head to Elmira’s farm.

“See you all in twenty minutes!” Buddy shouts cheerfully. He runs in the opposite direction of where Derek is heading, nearly tripping over himself.

At Elmira’s farm, it seems to be the same old evening schedule. The pigs have already been put inside their pens. Derek walks up to them and they look up and walk up to the fence, hoping Derek has food for them. They realize that he doesn’t but they still lean into him when he pets them.

“I’m not going to miss the messes you two make, but I’m gonna miss you guys a bit,” says Derek with a fond smile. Porkz squeals and Pigglez oinks back at him. Derek leaves them in the settle in their pens for the day and heads inside Elmira’s house. Elmira is in the kitchen, peeling vegetables for a stew. She doesn’t acknowledge Derek entering and she looks busy so Derek decides not to bother her. Instead he heads straight to his room.

His room is exactly how he left it this morning, with a slightly messy bed and nothing else. In the corner of the room was the suitcase Nicole had given him. The suitcase was rather large but it was sleek, colored in Nicole’s signature peacock blue with subtle gold lining etched in the metallic casing. If he pressed a button at the top of the suitcase it would expand to the size of a modeling station so it was best not to turn that feature on while he was inside his cramped room. Derek didn’t have anything else of importance in his room so he picks up his suitcase and leaves. His hand hovers on the doorknob. He found himself staring at his unmade bed. With a sigh he sets his suitcase down and heads to it.

While he didn’t look it, Derek was good at cleaning and keeping things organized. He had to be for his dad’s sake. And when he began living with Shirley, he was in charge of chores since Shirley was always busy with work and couldn’t tidy the house as often as she liked so cleaning came naturally to him. Making sure the bed was neatly tucked or folded or the floors were clean and dusted just reminded Derek of when he was a kid, having to keep things organized because no one else could.

He grabs the thin blanket and begins to fold it. He places it on the bed as neatly as he could. Derek even fluffs the pillow on the bed and tries to straighten the bed. He looks under the dresser to make sure that there wasn’t any trash underneath. He wasn’t sure why he wanted to make his room as immaculate as possible but it suddenly felt important to him. He takes one last look at his room, now as bare as the first day he arrived. Derek grabs his suitcase and leaves his old bedroom.

Elmira had just started stirring her stew when Derek steps out. She notices the suitcase in his hands.

“Leaving already?” she asks.

Derek gives her a noncommittal nod but realizes that she went back to tending to her stew so she couldn’t see him. “I have ten minutes until the King is expecting me to go on my quest.”

“Honestly I don’t understand why you would give up the satisfying life of pig herding to be some wandolier but I guess I’ll never understand the youth these days,” Elmira sniffs. She doesn’t turn her head but he can see the faintest smile on her face. “Good luck out there Derek.”

The boy blinks, so taken aback by her words of encouragement he doesn’t speak for a moment.

“Thank you,” he finally replies, wincing at how soft and sincere it felt when he said it.

“You better get going,” Elmira says. “The king doesn’t have all day.”

“R-right.”

\----

Derek arrives at the gates and notices that he’s the first person there. He sets down his suitcase and sits on it as he waits for the others. He realizes now that this is the first time that he’s sat down in hours and his legs begin to ache once he rests. He sighs and slumps over, hanging his head and closing his eyes in exhaustion.

“You three are finally leaving?”

Derek looks up and sees Butter standing next to him, leaning against the wall of the gate. He gives a small grunt in confirmation.

“I talked to Marlon,” she says. “He said that I can begin proper wandolier training tomorrow. He told me that since you aren’t going to be a permanent wandolier due to your unique status, I will take over once you’re gone.”

“Hey, so you do get to be the wandolier after all,” Derek comments with a wry smile.

Butter straightens her lips, pondering if she can gather the courage to speak. “How did you do it?”

“Huh?”

“How did you make your wand work? I tried so hard but…nothing happened.” Butter looks to the ground, ashamed and embarrassed.

“I don’t know. It just…came to me I guess?” Derek explains. Seeing Butter’s insecure expression, he says sincerely, “You don’t need to worry about whether or not you’re good at it at first. I’m sure you’ll get the hang of it. I bet you’re gonna be the best damn wandolier the Kingdom will ever see.”

Butter blurts out a small laugh. “I sure hope you’re right.”

“Hey you’re all ready to go pal?” shouts Buddy from a distance with Lyndsay in tow.

Without another word, Butter turns to leave. She disappears into the castle by the time Buddy and Lyndsay meet up with Derek.

“King Roland and Marlon are waiting for us that the harbor,” Lyndsay says. She practically bouncing with energy.

“Alright, let’s go.”

\----

The trio arrives to the harbor. It was the beginning of sunset and the sky has become as bright pink and purple when they arrive. The king and Marlon are waiting for the trio near the boat. Barney had disappeared into his house, no doubt making pizza bagels for whatever party that he plans on throwing.

As they come closer to the two, Derek notices an old landline phone in Roland’s hand.

“You can call your aunt with this Derek,” Roland explains. He hands the phone to Derek who fumbles slightly with the machine and phone. In the corner of his eye, Derek notices that Marlon has Buddy and Lyndsay’s attention somewhere else.

“Just so you know Derek, it’s currently 8 at night here in the Kingdom but at Shirley’s home, it’s most likely 2 in the morning so she may not pick up,” the king explains sorrowfully. “I’m sorry that we couldn’t prepare earlier.”

Roland leaves Derek alone for some privacy. The boy waits a moment, making sure that Roland has truly left before dialing Shirley’s number.

Derek clasps the phone in his hand, waiting as the dial rings in excruciatingly long tones. His heart drops as the ringing goes on. He holds his breath when the ringing stops and there was silence on the other line.

_ “Hi, you’ve reached Shirley Vogel’s personal phone. If you need anything, please leave behind a voicemail and I’ll try to call you back. If this is for a hair appointment, please call on the business phone number provided.” _

Derek feels a lump form in his throat but he doesn’t understand why. Of course Shirley can’t answer the phone. They’re on different time zones after all; when it’s 8 in the Kingdom, it’s 2 in the morning back at home. She’s asleep and can’t answer just like what Roland said would happen. But even then, he feels something that he can’t describe in his chest just hearing her voice after so long.

“Hey Shirley,” Derek starts. His voice is surprisingly clear and level. He hadn’t talked to Shirley, in two weeks. How is he supposed to feel now that he can finally talk to her even though she won’t be able to talk to him?

“I haven’t been able to call you since I’ve been here. Not much service in the Kingdom I guess. I just wanted to say I became the wandolier of the Kingdom, which is basically a person who does community service all over the Kingdom. So that also means that I’ll be gone for a while.”

Derek lets out a low sigh. _“Gone for a while.”_ Irritation bubbles in his chest. “You never told me how long I was supposed to be here, you know that? You only said that I’d be here for a while, but I don’t know how long ‘a while’ is. I didn’t have anything to do here. Roland had to make something up for me to do when you left because he didn’t know what to do with me either. I don’t need to be here. I don’t _want_ to be here.”

He stops himself. There’s no point getting angry about it anymore. It’s been done, and he can’t change it now. “Anyway, I won’t be on Capital Island by the time you hear this. Roland allowed me to leave the Capital to see the other islands around the Kingdom because it’s my job as a wandolier. I don’t know how long I’ll be gone. It doesn’t matter anyway since it doesn’t seem like you have an idea for how long I’m supposed to be here. I don’t know when I can call you again so. I guess this is goodbye for now…Don’t work yourself too hard at the salon, Shirley.”

Derek hangs up. The stupid landline phone his hands feels heavier than it should and it’s beginning to feel ridiculous holding it in his hands. He glances over to the others. Barney is now with them.

He returned to the group and hands the phone back to Roland. If anyone notices his sour expression, they’re too polite to comment on it.

“Just in time,” Marlon bellows. “I’ve just handed Lyndsay a map of the kingdom for your adventure.

Lyndsay is already pouring over the map, excitedly trying to out a route for them to take. “Do you have a suggestion where to start?” she asks.

“You could go to either of the two islands that the map directs you to,” Roland explains. “However I would recommend beginning to the Nature Preserve first as it’s a relatively new island and I’m sure the owner would greatly appreciate the help in opening their new business.”

“What are we waiting for then? Let’s get this show on the road!”

“Good luck, adventurers,” says Roland. Buddy and Lyndsay make their way to the boat.

“Wait, before you go I have something to give you,” Barney says. He pulls out a small parcel and hands it to Derek. “It’s for all three of you and I recommend you open it pretty soon.”

“Uh, thanks, Barney.”

“One more thing,” Barney adds, more seriously. “Take good care of my boat. I know it isn’t much, but it holds a lot of sentimental value to me so if I see even a _scratch_ on it—“

“Is…that Elmira standing in front of your house?”

“What?” Barney asks, perplexed. He turns around and sees Elmira holding a pot and standing in front of Barney’s new house, unaware of Barney or Derek being nearby. Barney’s face goes bright with blush. “Y-y-you saw nothing!”

And with that, Barney rushes to his house, leaving Derek holding the small present he left them. Derek couldn’t help but smile at seeing Barney chatting with Elmira and inviting her inside his house.

When he enters the boat, Buddy and Lyndsay look at the ongoing scene slack-jawed.

“Barney and Elmira are _dating_?!” Buddy shouts.

“I never would have guessed,” Lyndsay gasps before giggling. “They look sweet and happy at least.”

“Alright, let’s get going,” Derek says, handing the parcel to Lyndsay. “Which way is the nature preserve?”

“Um, it’s east of here,” Lyndsay says, glancing at the parcel now in her hands and the map. “Do you know how to drive that boat?”

The other boy shrugs. “It can’t be that hard. It’s probably like driving a car or a motorcycle or something.” To prove his point, Derek goes over to the wheel and begins to turn it. The boat follows his direction and the trio pull out of the harbor and into the sea ahead of them.

“What’s inside the box anyway?” Buddy wonders. He takes the box from Lyndsay’s hands and opens it. “Oh wow! Pizza bagels!”

“Oh thank God,” Derek exclaims. “I’m starving.”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and this is the end of the Capital Island storyline. Next up: Renee's Nature Preserve!


	4. side illustration

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this is just a pic of what the squad is wearing. its a big one srry bout that

**Author's Note:**

> comments are appreciated!


End file.
